


Bundle

by lannisterslioness



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Babies, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Jyn and Cassian learning to be parents basically, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-09 15:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11107023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannisterslioness/pseuds/lannisterslioness
Summary: Jyn and Cassian are so used to running and fighting for themselves, not caring what happens to them in the line of duty. But when their little girl finally enters their lives, the two must realize that things have to change if they wish to raise their baby girl with the both of them around long enough to see her grow up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: i don't know where this really came from, i haven't written in a couple of weeks and it felt like an eternity so i ended up with this. it's only going to be two parts because i know better than to put more on myself than i can finish or have the motivation to finish, hope you guys like it!

Jyn wasn't sure about any of this, then again, she supposed she had never really been even when this little thing had been in her womb. It was all a blur really, the whole nine months and past day. One minute she was crying to Cassian in their bunk over not knowing what the hell they were going to do with a baby in the middle of a war, the next she was here in the med bay, screaming and cursing his name while crushing his hand and trying to birth this baby into the world. As soon as the baby was cleaned up, they plopped her into her arms and Jyn had never felt more lost in her life, even with Cassian at her side and smiling like a fool, she was terrified. What if she held the baby wrong? What if she didn't burp it right? What if she didn't feed it enough or fed it too much?

 

“Jyn?” Cassian asked, bringing her back to reality. 

 

It was a day later and Jyn still felt out of it, the doctors and droids said she was fine, but she still couldn't keep her eyes open for longer than a couple hours at a time. Cassian had taken up to holding their daughter almost the entire time Jyn was asleep, almost reluctantly handing her over every time Jyn was awake. She wasn’t angry at him for it, if anything she was grateful since she wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing when she was holding their little girl, and that terrified her more than anything else. 

 

“Hmm?” Jyn questioned, looking at the peaceful little bundle in Cassian’s arms; she never fussed when he held her. 

 

“Do you want to hold her?” He offered. 

 

“No, no, she’ll just start crying, you can hold her.” She quickly cut him off, trying to keep her voice as quiet as she possibly could to not wake the baby. 

 

“We still have to name her you know.” Cassian brought it up, she’d almost forgotten about actually naming the baby, there had been so many other things to worry about. “Any ideas?” 

 

Babies all looked the same to Jyn, that was probably why she’d hesitated so long on picking out a name - how could you name something that looked like everything else? Cassian, Bodhi, and Baze kept saying she looked like Jyn herself, Chirrut would say she had the same Force moving around her, though it was a bit more active than most infants. Their little girl had thick black hair that matched Cassian’s and underneath that pink and red tone it looked like there was a skintone somewhere in between hers and Cassian’s - not too pale but not quite as tan as he was. All that aside, she was a chubby bundle with a tuft of hair, how was Jyn supposed to name that? 

 

“Kestrel.” Jyn said the first name that came to mind, it had been one of her lesser used alias’, Kestrel Andor would have a far better life than Kestrel Dawn ever did. 

 

“Kestrel?” Cassian questioned, Jyn gave a nod of reassurance. “Kestrel it is then.” 

 

He looked down at her and for a moment and smiled. Jyn still couldn’t understand how someone could love something so much, she didn’t even understand how Cassian could love her so much, but it was something she wished she could return. - to both him and to Kestrel. 

 

“...Can I hold her?” Jyn asked, curiosity getting the better of her. 

 

“Of course.” Cassian said, looked almost relieved that she asked and carefully rising to his feet to hand off Kestrel as carefully as he could. 

 

Without even disturbing her for a second, Cassian got Kestrel firmly into Jyn’s arms and carefully sat back down again, keeping his eyes on the two of them. For the first time since she’d been born, Kestrel wasn’t squirming to try and get out of her arms, she was comfortable, moving just a bit to get used to being held by Jyn. How was something so fragile supposed to survive such a harsh galaxy that they lived in? How was Jyn supposed to protect this soft and breakable person when she could barely protect herself most of the time? She felt tears brimming and before they could even fall, Cassian wiped them away, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead. 

 

“It’ll be okay.” He mumbled to her, seeming to know what was on her mind without her having to say a word. “We’ll all be okay.” 

 

 

* * *

 

 

It had only been a month before they sent Jyn out on a mission again after giving birth to Kestrel. They didn't have any family to really shop her off to while both her and Cassian were gone on separate missions - Galen, the only surviving family of either of them, was in hiding under Rebel protection until the war was over. Thankfully there was Chirrut and Baze, and Bodhi when he came back; Jyn had to keep telling herself that Kestrel was in one of the safest places in the galaxy for now, the base was still a secret at least. 

 

When Kestrel was born, Jyn was so worried she'd be one of those mothers she heard stories about, the ones who didn't feel a connection to their baby and would up and abandon it in some cases. She didn't want that, especially not with Cassian, but it was a feeling she couldn't shake for the first two weeks that had her more upset than anything else. It didn't vanish all at once, that feeling she hated, but over the past month it slowly waned, and now, despite being just minutes away from landing back at base, she missed Kestrel more than anything else in the world. Just having her little girl back in her arms and hold her close was all she wanted more than anything else in the world. 

 

As soon as they landed, Jyn tried to keep herself from running off of the ship, and thankfully she didn't have to go very far. Right there, waiting for her, was Cassian and Kestrel, though Cassian wasn't due back for another week at least, it was a welcome surprise nonetheless. 

 

“You're early.” Jyn remarked with a grin, not giving Cassian any time to respond before she got on her tiptoes and stole a kiss from him. 

 

“You say that like it's a bad thing.” He laughed in return. 

 

“It's never a bad thing.” Jyn replied, her eyes landing on the little white bundle in Cassian's arms now. 

 

She was still so small and fragile despite the months time, she had been born almost a whole month early, but with everything Jyn saw outside those base walls, it only made her worry more about how she was supposed to protect Kestrel. Jyn hadn't really thought of life outside of all this fighting until Kestrel was finally born, now it was all she could think about. 

 

“How much longer?” Jyn asked as she took Kestrel, keeping her held tightly to her chest; when Cassian looked at her with a questioning look, she knew she had to clarify, “How much longer do you think we’ll last here?” 

 

“At Echo Base?” Cassian asked, “A few more months maybe, it’s been a while.” 

 

“I meant fighting, running around across the galaxy trying to come back to each other, to  _ her _ .” Jyn cast a glance down at their daughter. “How much longer can we keep doing this? I don’t want her to be like us, I don’t want her to grow up without one or both of us, or having to see one of us die when she’s too young to understand it fully.” 

 

“All of this will be over soon Jyn, we can go wherever you want once this is all done, Kestrel won’t lose us.” Cassian promised. 

 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Jyn sighed. “What if this isn’t over soon? What if we get attacked here and something happens to her? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I couldn’t keep her said when that’s the one thing I’m supposed to do.” 

 

“She’s safer here than she is with your father Jyn, the Empire is still hunting him down. Here she always has Bodhi, Chirrut, Baze, or Kaytoo. They would all protect her with their lives while we’re gone.” Cassian explained. 

 

“I know they would, but what happens when that day comes and they do protect her with their lives? What happens to Kestrel when her guardians die or Kaytoo get’s so badly damaged that he can’t continue to function and we’re not here?” Jyn’s eyes were watering slightly now. 

 

So many things had changed between finding out she was pregnant to now, actually holding their daughter in her arms. She thought she could do it, that she could accept that she couldn't be with Kestrel all the time and that her and Cassian would go back to risking their lives for the rebellion. It was different when there was nothing to lose, sure, they had each other after a while, but they had accepted their fates. Now, they were still surviving and there was a little life that depended on them - how could they just go back to how things were? 

 

“I - “ Cassian cut himself short, his features falling at the realization of her point. “I don’t know.” 

 

Jyn tugged Cassian close with one hand and pressed a kiss to his cheek before walking away, Kestrel still hugged tightly to her chest, afraid to let her go for even a second. 

 

“Where are you going?” Cassian called out. 

 

“I’ll be back, I just need to go for a walk.” Jyn replied. 

 

What she needed was some reassurance for her daughter's fate - no matter what happened. Her life, Cassian’s, and all her friends were in constant threat of death, there was no one around who didn’t have that lingering over their heads, not even her father at the moment. But there had to be someone - anyone - who was more likely to survive this war, someone not out right on the front lines, at least not all the time. Someone who could give Kestrel the best life possible should the worst happen to her and all her loved ones. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

“You...you want me to be her godmother?” Leia asked. 

 

Jyn wasn’t sure what led her to Leia’s quarters, she just walked aimlessly until she found herself here, her mind racing with everything she talked about with Cassian beforehand. There were others she could have gone to, other mothers on the base with children of their own either here or back at home with their families, others who were older than both her and Leia and knew what they were doing when it came to kids - but they were all out there in the hail or fire just like Jyn, and while Leia threw herself out there too more often than one expected a former senator to do, she just seemed like a good choice at the time. If Leia lived through all of this while Jyn and everyone else she cared for perished, at the least, Kestrel would have a good life with a former senator, a former princess, a life Jyn would never even be able to begin to give her. 

 

“I know it’s out of the blue but...I just couldn’t think of anyone else she would be safer with, should things happen to everyone.” Jyn shrugged. 

 

Her and Leia had become close during their time in the Rebellion, after Leia awarded her and the rest of Rogue One for getting the Death Star plans while they were recovering from their injuries, they bonded, both recalling a time when they met when they were just kids - back before Saw broke away from the Rebellion. 

 

“You’re really thinking that far ahead, huh?” Leia asked, her expression somber at the realization of what Jyn must have been thinking of to get to this point. 

 

“I don’t want her to grow up without anyone, I don’t want her to have to fight her whole life like Cassian and I if something happened to us. I want her to have a childhood, to grow up without worrying about having to hide or where her next meal was coming from on the run. “ Jyn explained. “Bodhi, Baze and Chirrut are all out there with us, something could happen to them just as easily as Cassian and I, and my father will more than likely always be hunted down even when the Empire is defeated. With you, she’d be safe.” 

 

Leia nodded, processing what Jyn had to say before letting out a sigh and meeting Jyn’s gaze again. 

 

“I’d be happy to take care of her if that day ever comes.” She offered up a small smile, and for the first time in weeks, she felt something life relief. 

 

“Thank you, Leia.” Jyn replied. 

 

“No kid should have to grow up without family. I was lucky to have mine for as long as I did, I realize that every day I’m here.” Leia said. 

 

“Do you want to hold her?” Jyn offered. 

 

“Sure.” Leia nodded. 

 

Jyn carefully passed Kestrel off to Leia, making sure she was fully in her arms before letting go, watching Kestrel squirm a bit, almost looking like she was going to cry until she heard Leia hum a tune, more than likely something from Alderaan that she remembered. Kestrel slowly fell back asleep, her little hands gripping onto Leia’s coat and putting a smile on the princess’ face. 

 

“Cassian gets her to sleep that fast too, he sings her a lullaby from Fest that he remembers.” Jyn remarked fondly. 

 

“I’ll have to learn that sometime, I’m sure she likes that song much better, I don’t even remember the words to this one.” Leia smiled. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: i tried not to take too long with updating this, i don't know how many days it's been, but it's fairly close together i think? either way, hope you guys enjoy this.

Cassian held Kestrel in his arms, returning from a mission earlier that day and unable to sleep despite Jyn being curled up beside him and letting him know he made it back safe. She was still fast asleep in bed, hoarding all the blankets and pillows to make up for his absence beside her while he sat in the corner by Kaytoo, the droid having gone into rest mode after Cassian insisted he’d be up with Kestrel for a while. 

 

Sometimes he still couldn’t fathom just how something so tiny like his little girl could be a living and breathing thing. Kestrel was a few months old now, still too small and fragile for the harsh world they lived in, but she seemed to be fairing better in the cold corridors of Echo Base than most people. Kaytoo said it was because she was born here, that she was acclimating to the cold weather easier since this is the only environment she’s ever known; Cassian handled it fairly well since he grew up on Fest, and while Jyn was born on Vallt, she seemed to deal with the cold the worst out of all of them. Despite being so young and so small, she was going to be the strongest of all of them when she grew up. 

 

“Cassian?” Jyn mumbled, breaking the silence of the room and stirring in bed. 

 

Jyn sat up slowly, her hair a bit of a mess and the sheets all bunched up around her, Cassian couldn’t help but smile at the sight. 

 

“I didn’t hear her cry.” Jyn said, stretching a bit now and taking notice of the sleeping form in his arms. 

 

“She didn’t. I couldn’t sleep and Kay needed a break to charge his batteries, I figured I’d spend some time with her.” Cassian shrugged. 

 

“You could have woke me up.” Jyn offered. “I’d have talked if you wanted that, or just stayed up.” 

 

“You need all the sleep you can get, you’re with this little one most of the time, Kay’s told me about her not wanting to sleep lately when she’s supposed to.” Cassian said. 

 

“Did he also tell you that he thinks that it’s my rebellious genes that are making her do that?” Jyn asked with a smirk. 

 

“No, he left that part out.” Cassian laughed slightly, trying not to disturb Kestrel. “I’ll have to tell him tomorrow though that I distinctly remember hating going to sleep when I was little, she probably gets that from me.” 

 

“You still don’t like sleeping even now.” Jyn commented. “Put her back to bed and come over here. You need some kind of sleep, you have to go through that debriefing tomorrow, you’ll be dead on your feet if you don’t.” 

 

Reluctantly, Cassian put Kestrel back in her crib as carefully as he could, she only gave a slight squirm for a moment before going still after Cassian pressed a kiss to her forehead. Making his way back across the room, Cassian sat down on the bed beside Jyn, her arms wrapping around his waist as she pressed her body up against his back, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. 

 

“You were right, about asking Leia to take care of Kestrel if something happened.” Cassian sighed. “I’m sorry I left the way I did, I didn’t want to go out on that mission angry but I just ran out of time. I’m sorry Jyn.” 

 

“It’s alright.” Jyn said. “I know you didn’t want to think about it, but we had to.” 

 

“I know that now.” Cassian said, leaning into Jyn’s embrace just a bit. “But I wasn’t sure how that mission was going to go, the thought of leaving you and Kestrel here, especially after we fought - “

 

“Stop thinking about that right now.” Jyn ordered. “You’re fine now, you’re here in one piece, we’re okay.” 

 

Cassian paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath before pressing a kiss to Jyn’s arm, the only part of her he could reach at the moment. “I love you.” 

 

“I love you too.” Jyn replied, pressing a kiss to his temple now. “Now come on, let’s get some sleep while we can, Kestrel will be up soon and you need sleep before they drag you into the meeting room again.” 

 

Without anymore protesting, Cassian listened to Jyn, getting under the covers and pulling her close to him. When Jyn finally fell asleep before him, Cassian wiped away a stray tear after thinking about the horrible thought that haunted him the whole time he was away - if he’d died leaving things between them at an argument before he got to come home and apologize, before he got to hold her and kiss her one more time, before he got to cradle their daughter close to his chest one more time. He didn’t want that to ever happen again, he didn’t want to die without the two most important people in his life knowing how much he loved them, even if he was a kriffing moof milker sometimes. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Originally, Cassian had planned to ask Jyn to marry him today, he’d taken a few days to work up the courage to actually utter those words and brace himself for her more than likely saying no, Jyn didn’t seem like the type who wanted marriage, but he wanted to ask either way and hope for a yes. He certainly didn’t expect the Empire to find them and launch an attack on the base, his worst nightmare that kept him lying awake most nights, especially now that he had people to care about and fight for. Now the base was in chaos, alarms were sounding off and personnel were running all over the place, but the sound Cassian would remember the most was the sound of Kestrel’s cries, and all the cries of the children that had been unfortunate enough to be born on Echo Base. 

 

“Cassian!” Jyn shouted, clutching Kestrel close to her chest and looking more panicked than he’d ever seen her in his life. “Cassian, we have to go, now! The base is gone, everyone is evacuating!” 

 

“Chances of survival are still at an optimistic sixty percent if we leave immediately.” Kaytoo added as the ground shook. “Fifty-seven.” 

 

“But the fight - “ 

 

“It’s gone, it’s all gone. We have to go somewhere,  _ anywhere _ .” Jyn protested. “I’m not leaving you here to fight a losing fight, we need to go  _ now _ . Kestrel needs you, I need you.” 

 

Hearing his daughter's name brought Cassian back to the reality of everything, seeing her cry and wanting nothing more than to get her somewhere safe where he could hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright was all he wanted. 

 

“Cassian! Jyn!” The familiar voice of Bodhi called out as he weaved through the running soldiers. “Come on, I have a ship loaded up, we’re getting off this planet with the other ships!” 

 

Cassian stayed at Jyn’s side while they made their way through, Kaytoo guarding their backs from any parts of the base that threatened to fall on them as the structure of the base slowly declined with each shake of the ground. He didn’t even remember how they got on the ship, just that they did and the doors shut right behind them, Bodhi racing up to the front to co-pilot with a familiar face of a soldier named Shara Bey. The ship was full of other people who had families on the base along with Chirrut and Baze towards the front, he remembered someone telling him that they were headed to Yavin 4 to re-group, some other ships were going there while others head to other planets to keep the Rebellion spread out and hard to find again. 

 

Once they were up in the air, Jyn was shaking like a leaf, Kestrel was quiet and calm now that the noise was over with, but Jyn could barely hold herself together after nearly escaping. Cassian carefully took Kestrel from her grasp to let Jyn collect herself, Jyn leaning against him and holding on, trying to keep herself from breaking down like some of the others around her - the others who weren’t lucky enough to escape with their whole family and didn’t know if they were alive or dead back on Echo Base. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

They’d been on Yavin 4 for a week, enough time to regroup and help treat any wounds some of the survivors sustained. Jyn had some time to recoup and realize that they had somehow managed to survive that attack, and that Kestrel still had both of her parents. She didn’t even know that Shara had a kid until they reached Yavin 4 and saw a little boy with a head of dark curls run into her arms and head for Kes afterwards. She knew it was almost time for them all to go back, they’d made contact with other Rebel ships and were coordinating to make an attack on Endor, they’d have to go running back into danger, but this time she’d have to leave Kestrel behind completely. 

 

Baze and Chirrut volunteered to stay back and keep Kestrel safe on Yavin 4, they would come back, at least Jyn hoped they would, which made saying her goodbyes to Kestrel that much harder even though the infant wouldn’t understand. By the time they boarded back on the ship, Jyn didn’t even know she was crying until Cassian wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead and wiping her tears away with his thumb. 

 

“We’ll come back to her.” He promised her. 

 

“I know.” Jyn lied to herself, it would be easier to believe they would make it back than accept the fact that they might not. 

 

Cassian was quiet for a moment until he pulled away, looking her right in the eyes as if he’d just realized something. 

 

“Will you marry me?” He asked her. 

 

“Yes.” Jyn replied without hesitation. 

 

For some reason, despite the very real fact that they might not come back, just knowing that Cassian intended to spend the rest of his life with her made her have just a little more hope, no matter what they were charging into now to go face on Endor. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

They made it back, somehow they made it back. Cassian was a little worse for wear taking a blaster shot to the arm, and Jyn had her side grazed by another shot, but they were alive and back to their little girl they left on Yavin. It had only been a week and she already looked so much older to Cassian, something about Kestrel just looked like she had managed to grow in that short period of time and it pained Cassian that he missed it. He didn’t want to miss another moment of his daughter's life, and now that the war was over and his fighting was done, he had a life to live for, a woman to call his wife and a little girl to protect from the rebuilding galaxy. 

 

“You always get her to go to sleep better than I can.” Jyn huffed, watching them from the doorway of their new home on the once Rebel occupied planet, not far from their newly made friends of Shara Bey and Kes Dameron along with their little son Poe.

 

“I told you she likes hearing songs, you never sing to her.” Cassian smirked. 

 

“I’m a terrible singer, she’d probably cry if she ever heard me.” Jyn said. 

 

“I like your singing.” Cassian said. 

 

“I know you’re just saying that, but thank you anyway.” Jyn smiled as she walked over to the two of them. “We’re going to be alright I think.” 

 

“I think so too.” Cassian nodded. 

**Author's Note:**

> also i have no idea what the rules are of godparents in the star wars universe, i don't know everything so unless someone actually knows lets just pretend, okay? okay.


End file.
